Religious high schools not allowed to hold public prayer before playoff game due to IHSA rule

Sean King / The Beacon-News

Aurora Central senior Sam Vinson runs with the American Flag after Aurora Central scores against Chicago Christian at Aurora Central Catholic High School in Aurora, IL on Friday, October 14, 2016 | Sean King - The Beacon-News

Aurora Central senior Sam Vinson runs with the American Flag after Aurora Central scores against Chicago Christian at Aurora Central Catholic High School in Aurora, IL on Friday, October 14, 2016 | Sean King - The Beacon-News (Sean King / The Beacon-News)

Aurora Central Catholic High School home games typically begin with a prayer over the public address system: to protect the athletes from injury; for good sportsmanship; for safe travel to and from contests.

But at a high-stakes home football game Friday against Wheaton Academy, a Christian school in West Chicago, public prayer will not be allowed.

Friday marks the first round of the Illinois High School Association Class 4A playoffs. And, under the IHSA rules that govern playoffs, prayer over a public address system is prohibited.

"It is frustrating to be told what you can and cannot do, when that is not consistent with school policy throughout the school year," Aurora Central Catholic athletic director Sean Bieterman said.

IHSA policy doesn't address prayer during the regular season. Executive Director Craig Anderson said IHSA rules don't spell out that teams can pray during the regular season, but the organization doesn't regulate the information schools share during the regular season over their public address systems.

Anderson said the playoff public prayer ban, which applies to other sports the association regulates as well, has been in place for "a long time," and no recommendations to change the policy have come up during his seven years with IHSA. He said he didn't know how the practice originated.

"It's just a long-standing terms-and-conditions kind of policy," he said.

Gene Frost, head of school at Wheaton Academy, said he didn't recall the protocol being in effect when he started working at the school 10 years ago.

He said it is possible that IHSA has a prayer policy only for playoff matchups, because schools can choose their own schedules during the regular season and can choose to play schools where they will not be exposed to prayer, he said. During a playoff game, a school can be matched up with any other.

Frost compared the situation to a Biblical teaching and said the school would play by IHSA rules as long as it was part of the association.

"One of the things we think is important for a faith-based school is to be good sports and demonstrate teamwork, and we're able to work with the state and be good hosts," he said. "And we think that speaks as loudly as our prayer."

Bieterman said he was "disappointed" in the protocol, and found it "degrading" to be told what teams can and cannot do on school property. IHSA often asks the school to host events, he said, and he would prefer IHSA regulations focus more on respecting the host school.

"All year, every day at school, our kids pray," Bieterman said. "It's part of who we are as Catholics. Whether it's a game, whether it's the classroom, whether it's the beginning of the day or the end of the day, we're viewing us as being in God's presence, and we're taking time to acknowledge that and respect that on a daily basis."

Bieterman said every school has its own routine before games. When Aurora Central Catholic travels to public schools, teams don't expect prayer before a game. But when schools come to Aurora Central Catholic, they should expect prayer before the national anthem.

On Tuesday, Aurora Central Catholic hosted Wheaton in a volleyball playoff game. The absence of a prayer was noticeably out of routine, Bieterman said.

"On Monday, we had two Chicago Public League schools here, so we're not going to pray," he said. "But ... when we play Wheaton Academy, certainly. Who would be offended by that?"